Plastic bristle brush



Nov. 2, 1965 L. F. KUTIK 3,214,777

PLASTIC BRISTLE BRUSH Filed March 17, 1964 z Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

LOUIS F. KU TIK ATTORNEY Nov. 2, 1965 L. F. 'KUTlK 3,214,777

PLASTIC BRISTLE BRUSH Filed March 17, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l 1 FIG? I]U E] D E! E! E! El 28 FIG. I?)

INVENTOR.

LOUIS F.KUTIK ATTORNEY Nov. 2, 1965 F. KUTIK PLASTIC BRISTLE BRUSH 5Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 17, 1964 L -Q Q- INVENTOR. LOUIS F. KUTlK BYHG. \T.

United States Patent l 3,214,777 PLASTIC BRISTLE BRUSH Louis F. Kutik,Fort Lauderdale, Fla, assignor of onehalf to Erich W. Gronemeyer, FortLauderdale, Fla. Filed hiar. 17, 1964, Ser. No. 352,689 2 Claims. (Cl.15-187) This invention relates to improved molded plastic brushes havinga head portion and a plurality of bristles integral with the headportion.

The forming of a brush having a backing or head portion and integralbristles are broadly known in the art. This invention contemplates theforming of a bristle brush in a novel manner and whereby the bristlesare rectangular in cross section and the bristles of each adjacent rowbeing staggered with respect to the other bristles and whereby thebristles have fiat sides and relatively thin edges, permitting a freeflexing of the bristles transversely while the flexing of the bristleslongitudinally are retarded due to the cross sectional shape of thebristles, such being particularly desirable in toothbrushes where therows of the bristles are up and down with respect to the teeth and givesa soft yielding motion to the bristles when applied to a toothbrush.Further it is most desirable that the bristles be relatively soft andyieldable in one direction, such as the up and down motion of the brushwhen brushing the teeth and yield and conform to the contour of theteeth.

Novel features of construction and operation of the device will be moreclearly apparent during the course of the following description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein has beenillustrated the preferred form of the device and wherein like charactersof reference are employed to denote like parts throughout the severalfigures.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary view of a brush constructed in accordance withthe invention,

FIGURE 2 is a greatly enlarged horizontal section taken on line 2-2 ofFIGURE 1 and illustrating a group of bristles,

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal section, parts in elevation andillustrating the brush head and the integral bristles,

FIGURE 4 is a transverse vertical section taken substantially on line 44of FIGURE 3,

FIGURE 5 is a transverse fragmentary section illustrating theflexibility of the bristles laterally of the head portion,

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the mold forminglaminations,

FIGURE 7 is a plan view illustrating the several laminations for themold and with the laminations being bolted together for dispositionwithin a cavity,

FIGURE 8 is a vertical sectional view of a mold for receiving the cavityof this invention,

FIGURE 9 is a side and edge elevational view of a modified design ofbristle,

FIGURE 10 is a side and edge elevation of a further modified form ofbristle,

FIGURE 11 is a side and edge elevation of a further modified form ofbristle,

FIGURE 12 is a further modified form of mold lamination for forming anarcuate brush,

FIGURE 13 is a fragmentary side elevation and a bottom plan view of amolded device for forming flooring tile,

FIGURE 14 is a perspective view of a group of laminations showing amodified form of cavity forming mold,

FIGURE 15 is a fragmentary plan view of the mold forming laminations ofFIGURE 14,

3,214,777 Patented Nov. 2, 1965 FIGURE 16 is a further modified form ofan arrangement of stamped laminations forming bristles in staggered orstepped relation, and

FIGURE 17 is a cross section through a modified form of bristle.

Referring specifically to the drawings and particularly to FIGURES 1-5inclusive, there has been provided a head portion 5, having bristles 6formed integral therewith. As will be observed, the bristles, shownparticularly in FIGURE 2 are rectangular in cross section having foursharp edges 7 that perform a scraping action and the bristles of eachalternate row, shown at 6 in FIGURE 2 overlap the space between adjacentrows of bristles. As shown in FIGURE 5, the rectangular shape of thebristle permits of relatively soft lateral or bending motion to thebristles, such as is desirable in toothbrushes, where the brush is movedin a vertical path over the teeth and creates a relatively soft flexibleaction calculated to impart a massaging action upon the gums. Thebristles may terminate at their ends in any particular design, such asbeing rounded at 6a, shown in FIGURE 3 or the bristles may be shaped asillustrated in either FIGURES 9, 10 or 11.

The molds (see particularly FIGURES 6 and 7) cmbody a plurality of verythin laminations 8 and with the laminations being of identical lengthand apertured at 9 to receive bolts or the like whereby the laminationsare tightly engaged with each other for disposition within a mold deviceof the character shown in FIGURE 8. Each of the laminations 8 areslotted throughout their thickness as indicated at 10 and the slots 10may be of tapered design or either of the designs of FIGURES 9, 10 and11. The slots 10 are staggered with respect to each adjacent laminationand with the material of the lamination between each slot, indicated at11 having overlapping relation with respect to the slots of adjacentlaminations and when assembled, as shown in FIGURE 7 form a plurality ofcavities 12, throughout the length of the mold and with the cavitiesbeing upwardly 0pen ing for the reception of fluent plastic that fillsthe cavities and simultaneously forms the head 5 for the brush and theshape of the resultant bristles will obviously conform to the particularshape of the slots 10. The design of the slot 10 will permit the readydisengagement of the bristles from the mold since the cavities are soshaped that the bristles can be readily pulled away from the mold. Theseveral Iaminations 8 are formed by stamp: ing the lamination and eachlamination is arranged so that each alternate lamination has its :slotsin staggered relation to adjacent laminations and whereby to form thecavities 12 and after stamping, the laminations are polished to removeany burrs on the metal that would prevent the easy withdrawal of thebristles and to cause the bristles to be accurately formed inrectangular shape for their major length, having the sharp edges 7. Withthe group of laminations tightly bolted together and with the slots 10in staggered relation in each alternate lamination, the bristle formcavities formed by the group of laminations is inserted within a mold 13in which the group of lamin-ations are mounted and the cavities 12 areinstalled within a reset 14 of a movable mold sec tion 15 ofconventional construction. The mold section 15 carries a stripper plate16 and a bolster plate 17 for holding the elements 18 and 19, that arerecessed at 20, in accordance with the shape of the head portion 5. Theplates 16 and 17 are grooved to form runners 21 receiving fluent plasticfrom a sprue 22 to flow in opposite directions and into the cavity 12and simultaneously forming the head 5 for the brush. The mold apparatusmay be of any desirable configuration but here has been illustrated asone desirable manner of mounting the group 3 of laminations forreceiving the plastic and to also form the integral head 5.

The several shapes of bristles illustrated in FIGURES 9, 10, and 11 areonly certain variations of bristles that can be formed with a device ofthis nature. The forked bristles may be formed in any desirable manneras by filling or cutting away certain area of the bottoms of the slots10 in each lamination and while the bristles here shown indicate forksand other designs, they are within the confines of the cavity formed bythe slots 10.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a very novel method has beenprovided to form a mold for a multiplicity of rectangular bristles andwith the bristles having four sharp corners calculated to provide ascraping action over an area to be cleaned. The mold forming laminations8 are economically formed by stamping of sheet metal of a thicknesscalculated to determine the transverse thickness of the bristles to beformed and the mold formed by the laminations 8 is cheap to manufactureand assembled with a minimum of effort into a compact mold forsubsequent disposition into a molding machine. It should be pointed out,that the slots 10 are stamped entirely through the laminations 8 andthen polished on opposite sides to remove any undercut portions of metalthat might adhere to the edges of the slots and restrict the easyremoval of bristle. The polishing also permits the several laminationsto be bolted together tightly and forming the multiplicity of cavities12.

In FIGURE 12, there has been illustrated an arcuate brush forminglamination 23 for forming bristles 24 and alternate staggered bristles25. This form of the invention is particularly useful in molding brushesof the type generally employed as hair brushes.

Now, referring to FIGURE 13, there has been provided a structure similarto that previously described and here illustrating a backing sheet 26,carrying the bristle 27. The backing sheet is provided with a pluralityof dovetail integral recesses 28 for the reception of knock-out pinsemployed in the mold structure. The structure of FIGURE 13 is primarilyfor use in the manufacture of floor tile or the like and usually issquare in top plan view and of any desirable dimension. While the deviceof FIGURE 13 has been illustrated a a floor tile, it is obvious that theparticular construction might also be employed with respect to carpetinghaving indeterminate length. The bristles 27 may be as illustrated inFIGS. 9, l and 11 and having fiat parallel sides and with the edge beingtapered upwardly from the backing sheet 26 in various configurations.

Referring now to FIGURES 14 and 15, there has been illustrated amodified form of mold forming laminations wherein each of the molds havelaminations of identical dimensions. The outermost lamination in eachmold is formed of a plain or imperforate plate 29 and each alternateplate 29 receives therebetween a stamper mold plate 30, forming thecavities 31. Actually the mold plates 30 are substantially identical tothe plates 8 of the first form of the invention but here, theimperforate plates 29 form a closure for the cavities 31 upon each sideof the plates 30.

In FIGURE 16 there has been illustrated a further modified form of molddevice forming the cavities 32. Here, the several plates 33 have theslots stamped therethrough and with the plates subsequently to beassembled as a cavity forming mold by disposing each group of plates,being three in number so that the plates are disposed in position as amold with the cavities in staggered or stepped relation. The operationof the forms of the invention in FIGURES 1416 as far as the molding isconcerned is substantially identical to the form of the bristles asillustrated in the first form of the invention.

In FIGURE 17, there has been illustrated a modified form of bristles 34but here, the bristle is formed substantially square in cross sectionand with the usual taper downwardly from the head sufiicient to permitthe bristle to be withdrawn from its cavity. This bristle also embodiesthe four sharp corners 35, similar to the other forms of the invention.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the preciseconstruction shown, but that changes are contemplated as readily fallwithin the spirit of the invention as shall be determined by the 'scopeof the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A brush composed of a plastic material and having a head and aplurality of rows of bristles integrally formed with the head andprojecting from it, each bristle decreasing in width in one directionfrom its connection to the head to its free end, and each bristle beingof uniform thickness for its entire length, the bristles beingsubstantially rectangular in cross-sectional shape and with their shapescausing them to be resistant to flexure axially of the head and havinggreater flexibility transversely of the head, the shape of the bristlesproviding each of them with four sharp corner edges, and the bristles inone row being located in staggered relation to those in an adjacent row.

2. A brush according to claim 1, wherein the bristles are rounded attheir extremities, and the bristles in one row are in alignmenttransversely of the head with the spaces that exist between the bristlesin an adjoining row.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 848,973 4/07Crittenden 15-188 1,764,130 6/30 Vardeman. 1,948,826 2/34 Peterson15-215 2,349,977 5/44 Mazzoni 18-42 2,548,255 4/51 Cressler 15-l59.12,783,490 3/57 Kutik 15-187 2,783,501 3/57 Kutik 18-42 3,004,291 10/61Schad 18-42 3,100,312 8/63 Williams 15-215 3,125,776 3/64 Lilley15-159.l 3,128,488 4/64 Schad 15-187 FOREIGN PATENTS 950,461 10/ 56Germany.

185,943 9/ 22 Great Britain.

897,404 5 62 Great Britain.

203,802 6/39 Switzerland.

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner.

1. A BRUSH COMPOSED OF A PLASTIC MATERIAL AND HAVING A HEAD AND APLURALITY OF ROWS OF BRISTLES INTEGRALLY FORMED WITH THE HEAD ANDPROJECTING FROM IT, WACH BRISTLE DECREASING IN WIDTH IN ONE DIRECTIONFROM ITS CONNECTION TO THE HEAD TO ITS FREE END, AND EACH BRISTLE BEINGOF UNIFORM THICKNESS FOT ITS ENTIRE LENGTH, THE BRISTLE BEINGSUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR IN CROSS-SECTIONAL SHAPE AND WITH THEIR SHAPESCAUSING THEM TO BE RESISTANT TO FLEXURE AXIALLY OF THE HEAD AND HAVINGGREATER FLEXIBILITY TRANSVERSELY OF THE HEAD, THE SHAPE OF THE BRISTLEPROVIDING EACH OF THEM WITH FOUR SHARP CORNER EDGES, AND THE BRISTLES INONE ROW BEING LOCATED IN STAGGERED RELATION TO THOSE IN AN ADJACENT ROW.